Trolley-retriever.



E. BENSON.

TROLLEY RETRIEVER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15. 1914.

1,152,2w1 Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

Fig I. g

EIVIIL BENSON, F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

TROLLEY-R-ETRIEVER.

Specification of Letters Patent. j Patented A 0; 31, 1915 Application filed August 15, 1914. Serial No. 856,964.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EMIL BENSON, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley- Retrievers, of which the following is a speci fication.

" ing my invention is automatically operable to immediately draw a trolley pole that has accidentally disengaged its wire to a position where 1t w1ll not lnterfere with .guy ones or supporting brackets.

The object of my invention is the1pro-.

vision of mechanism of this characterthat willbe simple and efficient in action, oompact in size and the arrangement of its parts, and inexpensive to manufacture.

In the drawings accompanyingand forming part of the present specification I have shown in detail one convenient form of embodiment of the invention, which to enable those skilled in the art to practice the same will be set forth fully in. the following description. The invention, however, is not limited to this disclosure as'changes may be made in manv respects without departure from the scope thereof, vas defined in the claims succeeding said description.

Refcrring to said drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of mechanism involving my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 1,

' looking in direction of thearrow. -Fig. 3

is a transverse sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking indirection of the -arrow.. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views hereinafter more fully described.

Throughout the several views similar characters designate similar parts.

A suitable casing for inclosing" the various parts of mechanism comprising my invention is designated by 2 and inasmuch as all the mechanism required is supported by said casing no difficulty is encountered in attaching it to any suitable part of a car. To advantageously receive the trolley rope 3 it would ordinarily be secured to the dash.

One end of the casing 2 is closed by a plate 7 or disk 4 having an inwardly extending stud 5 which as shown may be integral with said disk, thelatter being firmly held in place by several screws 6. To receive the trolley rope3 a reel 7 is mounted on the stud 5, said reel being hollow and having one side as 8 removableto permit the introduction of a spring 9, (clock type) one end of which is fastened to stud 5 and the other end to a pin 10 extending transversely of the reel. The function of spring 9 is to exert a constant tendency to turn reel 7 inthe direction of arrow A, thus maintaining a tension on the trolley rope while permitting the trolley pole .to move up ordown .in conformity with varying levels of the trolley wire. collar 11 secured at the free end of stud 5 by a screw 12 prevents lateral move ment of reel 7.

The mechanism thus far described is operable to take care of slack rope when the trolley is properly engaged with its wire;

Should it become disengaged it is desirable that instant automatic action be effected to draw the trolley pole to a level below the trolley wire. I provide mechanism, includmg an auxiliary spring, for accomplishing this result and such mechanisnrwill now be described, Axially alined with the stud 5 is a shaft 13, extending at one end into a bore 141 in said stud 5 and supported at the other end by casing 2. Said shaft 13 loosely carries. a casing 15 provided for the auxiliary spring 16. The casing 15 is preferably formed insections 17 and 18 which may be secured together by screws 19. To one of said screws 19 is attached the outer end of'spring 16, the inner end thereof being fastened to the shaft '13 by keys or studs 20. Contiguous to oneside of spring casing 15 is a ratchet disk 21 keyed to shaft 13 and engageable by a pawl 22 pivoted as at 23 to casing 2, and held to its work by a spring 24, allas clearly shown in Fig. 5. To prevent-longitudinal movement of spring casing 15a collar 25 is provided on shaft 13. Betw'eenthis collar and the end of stud 5 is mounted a clutch member 26, which is loose on shaft 13 but rotatively connected with the spring casing 15 by pins 27 and 28 which are tapped into the adjacent hub of said cas- 9 essential to prevent said tendency; of arms ing'and extend into bores 29 and 30 reber 26 maybe" shifted'l'ongitudifially as will hereinafter appear to cause its teeth 31 to enga e teeth 32 formed onthe' inner end-of reel Within the bores 29 and 30, are springs 33 and 34 respectively which'con stantly tend to force clutch member 26 into engaged relation with: reel- 7 Normally, however, such engagement is prevented by a latch bolt or pin 35 mounted in a support 36 which is secured in casing 2 by screws as 37 One end of the latch pin is reduced as at38 tof-accommodate a spring'39 which normally tends to thrust said latch into looking position. To permit of the latch pin 35 being operated by hand as may be necessary j its free end with a roller 43 I 25 in resetting themechanism after it has been tripped, it'is provided outside the casing 2 with a manipulating ring 40. A stud .41 carried by latchvpin. extends through a slot 42in the support. 36 and is provided at adapted to be engaged by cntrifugally operated levers hereinafter described.

The reducedinnerend'of latch pin 35 engages a groove 44 in clutch member26, and as'before stated holds. said clutch in disengaged relation. Also when in locking position ,,'(as shownlsaid pin 35 engages a i clutch member 26 will be instantly engaged with reel 7 and at the same time the rota- 45 i ter withthe s 5 l6 isplaced shoulder45 at' one end of groove 44 and prevents rotation. of clutch. member 26 through the described'connection of the latp'rin casing 15. When spring, under tension or wound upby means of the crank '47 it is maintained under tension by. the pawl-and ratchet engage- ''ment on oneside and by engagement of clutch member 26 and locking pin35 on the other. From theforegoing" it will be, apparent that if latch pin 35 be withdrawn,

t ive, :torce of spring 16 will be released to thereby drive reel 7 with sufiicient power to plish thisfsatisfactorily by means pull the trolley pole down: the desired amount.

Means for tripping latch pin 35 will now be described. I Such means include a pair of levers or arms 48 and 49 pivotally mounted on the'inner side of reel 7, the pivot in each case being at .oneend of its respective arm so that upon rotation of reel 7 centrifugal forcewill be developed said arms with a tendency to swing them outwardly. v tation of reel 7 such as it would be subject to under normalconditions, itis, however,

48 and 49' to; swing outwardly and I accomof light springs as 50 and. 51, which are held at one end. in studs as and-53 respectively-and pass freely through wire loops as 54 and 55 rapidly rotated and arms 48 and 49 forced outwardly notwithstanding the tenbefore stated is associated with the latch in connection with Durlng comparatively slow roprovided on the respective arms. In the event of the trolley pole, to which rope 3 is attached, becoming accidentally disengaged from its "wire, thereel 7 will obviously be will be slon of springs 50 and 51. While thus forced outwardly, arms 48 and 49 will engageroller43 carried by stud 41, which as pin 35. The force of this engagement will be sufiicientto trip latch pin 35 thereby releasing the mechanism as already described. Afterbeing tripped, resetting of the mecha nism involves manual shifting of clutch member 26 to a position where it will again be engaged by locking pin 35. For effecting this shifting of said clutch member I employ means including a shaft as 56, mountedin the support 36. The inner end of said shaft carries acrank arm 57 having a stud 58 projecting.therefrom and engaging groove 59in clutch member 26. To the outer end of shaft56 outside of the casing 2 is attached. an operating lever 60. By swinging this lever, clutch member26 may be shifted as desired as will be clear from the showing in Fig. 4.

What I claim is i 1. Mechanism of the character described including in combination, a driven member, a reel, a clutch member rotatively associated with the driven member and shiftable to engage the reel, said clutch member having a peripheralgroove terminating in a stop 100 wall, a locking bolt adapted to engage. said: groove to prevent both shifting and rotative movement of the clutch, and means operzlitive by the reel for releasing said-locking bot. 2. Mechanism ofv the character described including in combination, a driven member, a reel, a clutch member rotatively associated with thedriven member and shiftable to engage the.reel,said clutch member having 110 a peripheral groove ending. in a stop wall and a continuous peripheral groove, a looking bolt normally in engagement with the peripheral groove having the stop wall, and a resetting device in engagement with the 115 continuous peripheral groove.

, 3. Mechanism of the character described including in combination, a driven member, a reel, a clutch member interposed between the driven member and the reel, means for 120 rotatively connecting j the driven member with the clutch member, spring means withinthe clutch member for shifting said clutch. member longitudinally into engagement with the reel and a locking bolt for nor- 125 mally holding said clutch member against longitudinal shifting movement and also driven member associated With said shaft,

ing comprising two members, a shaft longitudinally fixed with respect to one of said members and supported by the other member which is freely removable therefrom, a

shaft, rotatively associated with the driven member, and shiftable to engage the reel.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

EMIL BENSON. a reel Wholly supported on the member Which is freely removable from said shaft, and a clutch member supported on said i/Vitnesses:

F. E. ANDERSON, JosEPI-r R; BARLOW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

